THE EAT2LIVE BLOG

I Bought A Juicer… Now What?

Juicing is the fastest track to health, weight loss and an energy filled life. Only 15 minutes after consumption, the nutrients are delivered to your bloodstream. If you’d like to learn more about juicing, you can read my article “ What is Juicing?”.

But if you’ve just bought a juicer or are thinking about adding a juicing regime, these are the things you need to know.

1. Create A Dedicated Space in Your Fridge For Produce

Juicing requires produce, and produce takes up space so you’ll want to find an area of your fridge and kitchen to keep your juice-ready produce. Most refrigerators are coldest at the top and warmest at the bottom. After years of harboring cucumbers and spinach, I can tell you first hand that those little labels reading “produce/meat/cheese” in your fridge aren’t accurate! The best place to store your veggies is the bottom of the fridge, either in a draw or on the bottom shelf. Produce like tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and kale tend to freeze the higher up and further back you put them, so don’t waste money buying and accidentally freezing your produce.

2. Expect To Go To The Store every 3-5 Days

Now a days, it’s not uncommon for people to only go to the store once a month, with most going biweekly; many dependent on their paychecks. But if you are eating food that’s alive, you’re gonna need to go to the store more often. That’s just a fact.

Depending on what you juice and the frequency, you can find yourself in the produce section every 3-5 days. At first it may feel like you’re constantly going to the store, but after just a sort while, you’ll easily fall into a schedule and realize that dropping by Publix on the way home for apples and kale only takes 5 minutes- and juicing them, can literally save your life. Plus, if you’re wandering the produce section, your bound to pick up some other goodies to eat (that are good for you!). Need help planning your juicing regime? You can always book a Meal Planning Session or Grocery Shopping Assistance Session with your MyCoach.

3. Why Are You Juicing?

Just about every person that I have helped start juicing has started for health or weight loss. Combatting auto immune disease with high doses of phyto-chemicals and oxygen has given people their lives back. Millions have lost weight successfully by adding juicing into their daily routine.

Knowing why your juicing helps you plan out recipes, learn the benefits of various veggies and fruits, and ultimately putting you in control of your health again. Every juice you make needs to help you achieve your desired goal. Keeping your purpose in the forefront of your mind is key to succeeding in the long run. Remember, we aren’t juicing for taste, we are juicing for life.

4. Create a Recipe Book Or Use Ours!

Let’s face it, one juice could have 5 ingredients. Are you going to remember exactly how many lemon slices to add? Was that 2 or 3 apples? What’s a “handful” mean? Creating a recipe book allows you write down your juice ingredients without having to remember a thing later, and gives you the chance to add notes like, “gross but works” or “kids love this one” etc.

We recommend having 2-4 staple juices as a go to , and then, as boredom pursues, add in new recipes. Many juices are used holistically to treat colds, sinus infections, migraines and more. Pro’s have recipes for any ailment and take them as needed instead of a pill or shake, or trip to the doctor’s office. You might be spending money at the grocery store, but you are saving a bushel full by being healthier.

Members can visit our Recipe Page to find Juicing Recipes and even add a comment/note for later. In the Eat2Live2Love App Members can search by category to make shopping easy. Whether you use our App or another, there are tons of recipes out there. Create a Pinterest board, make a scrapbook, or buy a book. Members can also contact their MyCoach for more advice on recipes for their specific needs, plus tips and tricks.

5. Know How To Store Your Juice

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “How long will it stay good for?” Fresh juice will only stay good for up to 4 hours and trust me, you’ll taste the difference in it after about 2-3 hours. As the cells die inside your juice, so do the nutrients and the flavor. So a freshly squeezed orange juice will taste sweet now and bitter in 4 hours. The best protocol is to drink it after you juice. Most of our Juice Recipes make 4 cups; enough for two servings. So if you drink 2 cups now, how do you store the rest?

Let’s get a little sciencey. You’re juicing for nutrients, and the building blocks for those are found inside the cells of the plants you juice. When you juice, you are breaking down those cells, just as if you were chewing them, causing the cells to burst. The phyto-chemicals found in the plant mixes with your saliva creating the nutrients in their finished state, which can now be absorbed into your body.

Because those cells are alive, they will die; and the more air and sunlight that gets to it, the faster those cells will die until you just have green bitterness sitting in your fridge!

I recommend buying an airtight container that is shaded or tinted. I do not recommend buying metal or tin containers, as they alter the state and taste of juice. A “nothing fancy” travel drink container usually works just fine.

6. Pro Tip

You can make juicing take a long time. But you don’t have to. Most of us are busy and aren’t about to spend 30minutes a day, twice a day, standing in the kitchen shoving beets down a juicer shoot. So how can we make juicing quick and efficient enough to do daily?

The answer is in what we call “juice containers”; our ingenious strategy to prep and store juices for the future. (which I’m sure someone will steal and make millions on one day)

When you’re at the store buying your spinach, buy the spinach in the large plastic container with a lid and save the container! After you’ve accumulated 2-4 plastic containers, you can start prepping containers.

On Sunday’s I like to spend 45min prepping 4-8 containers (depending on how much room I have in the fridge!), so that all I have to do M-F is grab a container, add apples and spinach, and go. We have examples of these containers online at #E2LJuice .

If our Green Lemonade Juice requires 1/2 Pineapple, and I already have to be cutting the thing open to make 1 juice, why not double the order and have a juice for later? Instead of washing kale every time you make a juice, wash a bunch at once. Why wash just 1 cucumber when you can wash 4? Creating containers for recipe ingredients in advance is key to making juicing time efficient.

To get more personalized support from your MyCoach, visit our Contact Us Page, or reach out directly to them to get recipe ideas, recommendations and more.

I'm super excited about getting back into juicing! These were useful helpful tips to get me started. Going to hit the grocery store before the kids wake so I can have my first juice before I start my packed filled day tomorrow. Thanks Eat2Live2love...

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